


A Quiet Valentine's

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Series: Man's Best Friend [11]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Blanket Forts, Cuddling & Snuggling, Depression, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Medication Switch, Olicity are adorable, Oliver Queen has a service dog, Seriously this is just a load of fluff mostly, Service Dogs, Sick Oliver, Valentine's Day Fluff, Valentine's Day Gifts, antidepressants, season 1 AU, very mild angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 12:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17787413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: Oliver and Felicity celebrate their first Valentine's Day as a couple (with Hunter!)There's blanket forts, cute banter, gift giving and of course, lots of cuddling.





	A Quiet Valentine's

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentine's day!
> 
> i can't remember who exactly suggested this - it was in one of the comments on another hunterverse fic - but thank you so very much for the idea!!!
> 
> this is set in season 1, probably just before 1x14

Oliver was woken up slowly by Felicity gradually kissing her way down his face to chest, her hot lips on his cold skin and extra sensitive puckered scars sending waves of warmth through his body.

Although he was groggy, exhausted and disorientated, the archer was instantly hit with the knowledge that he was safe at home. He and Felicity were half-naked in bed together and it was the early hours of the morning. He was wearing boxer briefs and a thin t-shirt, while Felicity was dressed in panties and one of his vests.

“Good morning,” Felicity whispered.

“‘Morning,” Oliver replied quietly.

He blinked through gritty vision down to where Hunter was. His loyal service dog was curled up at the foot of the bed watching the two humans with gentle blue eyes, his ears flicking back and forth. Rays of dapples sunshine were falling onto the sheets from the curtain covered windows, causing Felicity’s hair to glow and capture Oliver’s attention again as he started running a trembling hand through the strands, as his girlfriend rested her chin on top of his Bratva tattoo.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Felicity said.

Oliver frowned. His jumbled mind barely processed what she’d said. “What?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she repeated, continuing to press kisses over his neck.

“It’s Valentine’s Day?” he asked numbly.

“Yep. February 14th.”

The archer was struck over the head by guilt. He hadn’t even realized. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t realize. I haven’t really been… keeping track of things well this week.”

Felicity gave him a soft, sympathetic smile. She smoothed his hair down against his skull. “I know, honey. It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

The last week and a half had been a shitstorm. Oliver’s doctor had decided that he needed to be switched onto different antidepressants due to the side effects he was currently getting with his Zoloft dosage, including tremors and extreme insomnia. He wasn’t exactly sure what drug he was going onto next - he only knew it wasn’t an SSRI - but it required a wash-out period, which was why he hadn’t been taking any pills for the last nine days, and couldn’t until the two-week transition interval was finished. As a result, Oliver felt absolutely awful. He constantly felt nauseous, light-headed and weak. Alongside the more flu-like symptoms, the archer had been suffering from consistent headaches, bouts of irritability and underlying anxiety.

He had been barely conscious over the last week. Oliver hadn’t left his and Felicity’s apartment, only because he was afraid of having a panic attack in public, or passing out on the street. The singular reason he hadn’t suffered a full-on mental breakdown yet was Hunter and Felicity’s support. His service dog and girlfriend were brilliant. Felicity took three weeks off work to help both Oliver and Hunter, encouraging the archer to take care of his most basic needs such as drinking, eating and sleeping, and taking Hunter on walks when needed.

Considering how much Felicity had done for him over the last nine days, Oliver couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten Valentine’s Day. As a (capitalized) holiday celebrating the beauty of love, once Oliver and Felicity had moved in together, the archer had been planning on arranging a romantic outing for the two of them and Hunter for their first Valentine’s. 

Valentine’s Days before the Gambit had been spent drinking copious amounts of alcohol, throwing money away to buy dozens of flower bouquets and boxes of shitty chocolates, and having meaningless sex. He did not want this Valentine’s Day to be like that at all. His relationship with Felicity was the healthiest one he’d ever been in, and he wasn’t afraid of admitting that he loved her or wanted a future with her. Oliver had so desperately wanted this Valentine’s Day to be special. But because he’d been so ill due to being weaned off his antidepressants, he hadn’t even realized what month it was.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver repeated sadly.

“Don’t be,” Felicity reassured. “It’s all right, Oliver. I’m perfectly happy spending the day at home with you. We can watch some movies, order take-out and cuddle on the couch. Just make it a typical Thursday night.”

Oliver released a shuddering breath, leaning up on his elbow to kiss her gratefully. Felicity carefully and gently hooked her legs around his waist and twisted over until she was straddling his hips. She smiled at him. She knew that he’d allowed her to maneuver him, as his strength was so much greater than hers, but appreciated the fact that he’d let her. Oliver liked it when Felicity sat on top of him; her weight was comforting and grounding. Gazing up at her with dark eyes, Oliver rubbed his thumbs over her thighs.

“That sounds like a great plan,” he said, his voice deep and rough.

Felicity gasped and turned around. By peering around her, Oliver was able to see that Hunter had moved from his spot at the bottom of the bed to poke his cold nose into her back. The service dog was used to seeing his two humans half naked at this point, and had no qualms about approaching them when they were like that when he wanted attention. Crawling across the sheets, Hunter curled up at Oliver’s side and rested his head on his master’s shoulder with a low whine.

Oliver stroked over the husky mix’s ears, ruffling his soft fur. “Hey, bud. How are you doing?”

Hunter looked over at Felicity. He hopped down from the bed and vanished into the living room for a brief moment, before returning and jumping up again - with a bouquet of thornless red roses wrapped in cream velvet in his mouth. He dropped the flowers onto Oliver’s chest in front of Felicity before snuggling up to the archer again.

“Roses?” Oliver asked confusedly.

Felicity flashed a sheepish smile. “I… might have got us some Valentine’s themed stuff.”

Oliver carefully placed the roses on the bedside table. “Good. Because I got some stuff as well in advance. I’m very glad I went shopping in January now.” He kissed her before heavily clambering out of bed and staggering into the bathroom to shower.

Hunter waited by the half-open bathroom door as his master took his time to stand under the hot water, steam billowing throughout the room and causing beads of moisture to form on the service dog’s fur. When Oliver emerged simply wearing sweats and a t-shirt, Felicity was dressed in some simple black leggings and one of Oliver’s blue Henleys, and was busy brewing a fresh pot of coffee and making some toast. Toast was about as much as her culinary experience would allow her to make for breakfast without the threat of giving somebody food poisoning.

She placed a plate with two slices of toast in front of him at the kitchen table, as well as a glass of orange juice and some mild pain meds. The drugs would only take away a fraction of the agony of his headaches, but it would relieve the pain enough so he could focus. Oliver swallowed down the pills before topped his toast with cream cheese and sliced tomatoes, watching with a raised eyebrow as Felicity lathered hers in butter and cinnamon sugar. Hunter sat underneath table beside the blonde, frantically licking up the sugar and toast crumbs that dropped to the floor as she started eating.

“You gave Dig the day off today?” Felicity asked.

“Yeah. He’s taking Carly and AJ out for dinner tonight, but otherwise, he said he’ll be available if we need him all day. I told him we’d only contact him in an emergency.”

The blonde shot him a sheepish look. “I was going to ask him if he could pick up a bottle of red wine. I’ve only got whites left and I wanted a red for when we were movie-marathoning.”

“If it’s wine you want, check the drawer two to the left of the cutlery drawer,” Oliver told her with a smile. He’d finished one slice of toast and could already feel his nausea building. He was planning on finishing the second slice only because he knew that he hadn’t eaten much over the last few days, and needed the sustenance.

Felicity instantly perked up. She drained the rest of her coffee mug before going in search of the drawer. She gasped in surprise and delight at what she discovered. “You got me wine as a Valentine’s present!? You’re the best boyfriend ever.” She began lifting each bottle from the drawer, lining them up on the countertop. “A 2003 Côte-Rôtie, a 2012 Othello, a 2014 Châteauneuf-Du-Pape, a 2015 Napa Valley Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon… a 1998 Château Bordeaux!? You’re spoiling me, Oliver.”

“You deserve to be spoiled,” he laughed.

“Not this much.” She hugged him gently from behind, rubbing her cheek over his stubble. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome. Come sit down and finish your toast.”

“Just let me grab some more coffee.” She snagged her mug and filled it up. As she did so, Oliver’s cell phone pinged. He didn’t know where it was, but it was obviously within Felicity’s sightline, as she told him, “Your mom just texted. Your phone’s charging by the slow cooker, by the way. I still don’t know why you need that.”

“For slow cooking,” he answered, taking a sip of his juice. “What did the messages say?”

“Ah, well. Moira and Walter are going out for dinner tonight and Thea is staying over at a friend’s - they wanted to know what we were planning. Moira’s invited us to brunch tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t think I can manage brunch,” Oliver muttered. He wasn’t really eating much and the loud, noisy environment of a restaurant was not particularly appealing. “Don’t they know about the meds switch?”

“They do, but I don’t think they realize what effect it’s having on you,” Felicity explained softly.

Grunting, Oliver drained his orange juice glass and forced himself to swallow down the remainder of his toast. Hunter was pawing at his feet, needing to go outside to relieve himself. There was a grassy yard at the back of the apartment building specifically for pets that wasn’t too big, but it was decent enough. “If my mom saw me like this, she’d think I was going onto drugs, not coming off them. And not legal drugs. And she’d probably want to book me into rehab.”

“I don’t think Moira would do that,” Felicity frowned.

He shot her a pointed look, opening the door and feeling Hunter brush against his legs as he hopped out the door. The service dog waited by the steps leading down to the small apartment block garden for him. “Next time you see Tommy, ask him about the time Mom found us trying to use flour to get a bad coffee stain out of her fancy library carpet, because we were sneaking around when we weren’t allowed to drink it, but accidentally spilled it. She didn’t think it was flour. She drove us to the hospital and demanded the doctor to test us for drugs. We were fifteen.”

Felicity’s expression morphed into one of shock and confusion. “Please tell me you’re kidding. Your mom thought you and Tommy were - what, snorting cocaine?”

“My dad thought it was hilarious,” Oliver commented dryly. “He knew from the moment Mom screamed at him to come into the room and help her get Tommy and me into the car that it was flour, but he never said anything.”

“That’s kind of messed up, Oliver,” Felicity said, concerned.

“To be fair, at that point Tommy and I had been caught smoking pot,” he admitted. “My mom was just a little overprotective. She still is today. She’s insisted on me having monthly medical check-ups from Dr Lamb since I arrived back from Lian Yu because she’s terrified I’ve contracted some exotic island disease that’s just not presented dangerous symptoms yet.” Hunter growled at him from the steps. “Hunter’s getting impatient. I’m just taking him down to the yard.”

Felicity rose from her seat immediately. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“We should be fine. Right, bud?” The husky mix barked in agreement. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“Okay. Take it slow, though,” she told him, a glimmer of worry in her eyes.

The yard was empty when they went down. Hunter did his business and Oliver told him he was off duty so he could throw the ball back and forth for the dog. He did so until the sunlight was hurting his eyes too much, causing his head to pound painfully. At one point, the archer had to screw his eyes up and stumble over the wall, due to a wave of dizziness washing over him. He could already feel a small migraine coming on. Hunter immediately picked up on his discomfort and jumped back into his service dog duties, bounding over with a whine and helping support him, nuzzling at his hands worriedly.

It took a while for Oliver to get back up the stairs to the apartment considering his headache, but Hunter allowed him to hold onto his collar for balance so that he didn’t fall. The fuzziness cleared up somewhat once he’d reached the front door. Hunter jumped up to get the handle and prodded it open with his muzzle.

“What is this?” Oliver asked bemusedly, walking into the living room with his service dog by his side and finding a huge pile of blankets and pillows on the floor.

Felicity was moving some of her kitchen table chairs in front of the couch. “I’m building us a romantic blanket fort.” The smug but also innocently hopeful look on her face made Oliver break out into a grin. Draping one of their largest blankets over the back of the couch and then hooking the corners over the chairs, she secured it with some of the heavier pillows, creating a large tent. “Grab some water bottles while I go get the duvet. We’re making this blanket fort the comfiest fort ever.”

Shaking his head in amusement, Oliver filled up two water bottles from the tap and swallowed down a couple of Advils, hoping to relieve his headache. He watched fondly as Felicity dragged their duvet underneath the blanket and arranged it on the floor. A sharp whistle from her prompted Hunter to creep into the fort and curl up on his favorite fluffy pillow with a huff. On his way back from the kitchen, the archer quietly lifted the fruit basket in the corner to slide out Felicity’s Valentine’s card.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead, handing her the brown paper envelope. Dropping to the floor, Oliver shifted into his knees so that he could lean into the blanket fort and rub Hunter’s exposed belly.

“What’s this?” she asked curiously.

“You’re my girlfriend and it’s Valentine’s Day. What do you think it is?” he teased.

She gave him a gentle shove on the shoulder before tearing it open. Oliver watched with a grin as Felicity flipped the card over to read it and immediately burst out laughing.

_It takes a **special kind of person**_   
_To deal with my **crazy ass.**_

“You know I don’t like you using that word in regards to yourself,” she admonished him lightly.

He motioned at her to read it. The service dog whined, as it required the archer to stop petting him for a moment. Rolling his eyes, Oliver returned to stroking over Hunter’s belly fur, scratching his chest so that the dog’s tongue lolled out of his jaws happily.

_I know you don’t like me calling myself crazy. But you are definitely the most special person I know._   
_Thank you for loving me back, despite the fact I don’t deserve it, and thank you for always being willing to listen even when the stories I tell you about my time away aren’t pleasant. Thank you for being so patient with me when I’m having a rough time mentally and thank you for caring for me when I can’t and don’t care for myself._   
_Thank you for always being by my side and supporting me, and letting me support you._   
_It is a privilege and an honor to be your partner. I love you so much, Felicity Smoak, and I don’t know where I would be without you._   
_Love, Oliver x_

Felicity wiped her eyes hastily, as if brushing away tears. Bending over, she tipped Oliver’s chin up with a single finger and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “Thank you. Whether you believe you deserve my love or not, you’ll always have it. Were you hiding this card under the fruit bowl?”

“You would never look there for it,” he shrugged, “Because you only ever eat fruit when I ask you to, or put it in front of you.”

“That is not true,” she protested. “I ate a banana yesterday!”

“Only because I cut it up and served it with ice cream and caramel sauce.”

Felicity stuck her tongue out at him, flicking him on the forehead. “Do you want your card or not?”

“I do.”

“You’ll have to wait here, it’s in the bedroom. Get comfy while you’re at it. Leave me some room though. There needs to be space for me to cuddle with you and Hunter as well.”

Felicity returned with an envelope of her own a minute or so later. She crawled into the blanket fort alongside him. Oliver was lying on his back, propped up by a couple of pillows behind him and their duvet underneath him, and he immediately shuffled so she could scoot up next to him. Hunter curled up with half of his body on top of his master’s chest, resting his head on his paws over Oliver’s shoulder. His tail flicked back and forth over Oliver’s knees and he raised his muzzle to lick at Felicity’s fingers as she snuggled up to the archer.

Oliver sighed contently, closing his eyes from his tiredness. His depression seemed to control him less when Felicity was with him, the dark thoughts of his mind drowned out by her affection toward him.

“Card,” she prompted, passing it over.

“Where were you hiding this?”

“In my make-up drawer. It scares you.”

“Your make-up does _not_ scare me.”

“Next time I ask you to fetch me a lipstick for my purse, I should take a photo of your panicked face and keep it as proof.”

“It doesn’t _scare_ me. There’s just… a lot of different make-up products in there and it’s kind of overwhelming when you’re trying to find one singular tube of mascara.”

“Sure, tough guy,” she laughed. “Open your card.”

Oliver carefully slit open the envelope and plucked the card from it.

_I love you so very much_   
_More than the sun and the stars_   
_If I had to choose between **you and your dog…**_   
_Ahhhh oh my god, look at that **beautiful face**_   
_Aren’t you the most handsome boy?_   
_Hmm? Sorry? What?_   
_**I got distracted by your dog.** _   
_Oh yeah, Happy Valentine’s Day!_

Oliver barely managed to withhold his snicker. It was the perfect card. Shaking his head, he joked, “Still love Hunter more than me, huh?”

“He’s a dog. Dogs are innocent, pure, smart and love humans unconditionally.” She tapped his hand. “You should read the inside though.”

Opening it, he read the inscription Felicity had written inside.

_Don’t worry honey, I love both you and Hunter equally. You’re both my boys._   
_(Although I might love you a little, tiny bit more - don’t tell Hunter that though.)_   
_Thank you for not judging me for eating entire pints of ice cream at a time when I’ve had a hard day at work, and drinking whole bottles of wine when I’m stressed. Thank you for encouraging me when it comes to my difficult coding projects and making sure I take care of myself when I forget to._   
_Thank you for trusting me and opening up to me._   
_I would promise you until the day I die, but the more accurate time frame would be always and forever._   
_Felicity <3_

Oliver didn’t say anything, just slid the card back into the envelope, carefully placed it to the side of the blanket fort, and hugged Felicity tightly. His heart was full and his throat felt thick. He didn’t think he would be able to find the words to express how thankful he was that Felicity was in his life. He’d come back from Lian Yu expecting to die within his first year of arriving back in the city and setting out on his crusade - he’d thought he would only last a month or two, to be perfectly honest.

But then he’d walked into Felicity’s office with that bullet-ridden laptop - maybe he should write a note of appreciation to Deadshot, considering he was the reason they’d first met, after all - and she had changed him fundamentally for the better. He had been surviving, but Felicity had given him a real reason to live again.

She seemed to realize that he was too emotional to talk, because Felicity just embraced him back, threading her fingers through his hair tenderly. “Do you want a minute alone?”

“No,” he mumbled into her collarbone. He could feel Hunter’s cold, wet nose against the back of his neck and feel his comforting rumble vibrating through his body, soothing his aching heart.

“Should I put a movie on for us?”

“Yes please.”

“What would you prefer? Romance or…?”

“You pick,” he sighed, pulling back when Felicity scooted out to go and fiddle with the TV and search through her DVD collection, as well as bring up Netflix onto the screen. “Something fun and light but I don’t have to concentrate on too much to enjoy.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re not going to be focusing on the movie?”

“I’ll probably be focusing on you,” Oliver admitted, with a faint blush. “And napping.”

“Have you seen _How To Train Your Dragon_ yet?”

He shook his head. Appearing pleased, Felicity searched and found the movie on Netflix. A close-up of a boy reaching a hand up to a panther-like black dragon on the loading screen poster caused Oliver to tilt his head in curiosity.

“One second,” Felicity said, holding up her finger. “If you’re going to be napping, I’m going to give you your Valentine’s gift now. It’s not as good as your wine selection gift. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Felicity.”

She ducked out of view for a couple seconds and came back with a folded green blanket in her arms. “It arrived yesterday so I didn’t get the chance to wrap it. I really hope you like it.”

Oliver sat up, stroking over Hunter’s back comfortingly as the service dog was forced to move down so he was resting his head on his master’s thigh rather than his chest. Hunter’s ears flicked back unhappily for a moment and he grumbled under his breath, but the service dog settled down and lifted his head curiously when Oliver reached out to take the blanket from his girlfriend.

For a second, he was shocked by how fluffy and heavy it was. This blanket was definitely not a normal one. It was quilted and had lots of smaller squares sewn in. Shaking it out, Oliver ran his hands over the fabric, intrigued by the feeling of beads inside each of the squares. He raised his amazed gaze to meet Felicity’s and observed her satisfied expression. “Is this a weighted blanket?”

“Yeah. To help with your anxiety,” she answered softly. “It’s 10% of your body weight and long enough to fit your height. It distributes weight evenly over all of your body, which helps you relax. Look - here.” She took it back from him so she could unfold it and drape it over him. “How does it feel?”

“Good,” he answered, slightly dazed. He felt like he was being hugged all over; the heaviness of the blanket caused a deep, firm pressure that was at first overwhelming but after adjusting to it, calming. “This - this is amazing, Felicity.”

She beamed. “I’m so happy you like it. Is the color okay? We haven’t really discussed favorite colors before but you seem to lean more towards natural ones, and I thought dark green would be okay.”

“It’s great.” It was a little on the nose, considering he dressed head to toe in dark green leather when he was out as a Hood on the streets, but Felicity didn’t know about his vigilante activities yet, so it wasn’t as if she’d chosen the color because of that. He was very fond of dark green. It was nice of her notice.

Hunter gingerly stood and sniffed at the blanket, one paw raised daintily. His ears were cocked back slightly, showing he was nervous and wary, but eventually he must have clocked onto Oliver’s decreasing stress signals because he snorted, licking at the archer’s cheek delicately.

“Looks like Hunter approves,” Felicity commented with a smile. Kneeling, she fussed over the service dog, scratching behind his ears. “I have a gift you too, you know.”

“You got my dog a Valentine’s Day present?” Oliver asked incredulously.

She shrugged. “He might not be part of our actual relationship, but he’s part of our family. Plus, his gift isn’t really a _gift_ … it’s practical and we’ve been talking about getting him a new one for weeks.” Leaning around the side of the blanket fort, Felicity picked up a black box with a red bow on top.

She placed it down in front of Hunter and the husky mix didn’t even hesitate in jumping off Oliver to investigate. The archer rolled his eyes and leaned back to snuggle under his heavy blanket as he watched his dog bat the box with his paw until it tipped sideways and opened. A green and black paracord collar with a metal clasp tumbled out. Excited, Hunter picked it up in his jaws and dropped it in Oliver’s lap.

“Did you get this specially made for him?” he asked.

“I picked the colors out. Check out the dog tags,” Felicity said, lying down on her front. She leaned on her elbows and kicked her legs back and forth adorably.

There were two tags attached to the collar: one with Hunter’s name and Felicity’s apartment’s address on the front and both of their mobile numbers on the back, and the other tag was a certified service dog tag with his service number. Oliver thumbed the engravings with a grin on his face. Unclipping the husky mix’s normal black leather collar, he replaced it with the new paracord one, making sure the metal clasp was secure and that it was loose enough around the dog’s throat that it wouldn’t hurt him or restrict his breathing.

“Thank you,” Oliver told her, kissing her gently. “It’s great. Much better than his old one.”

Hunter smothered Felicity’s face with his own kisses of appreciation, making her splutter and shove him away by his muzzle. The dog’s tail was wagging frantically, thumping Felicity’s shoulder and then Oliver’s legs as he finally lay down again, proudly wearing his new collar.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, buddy,” Oliver laughed, ruffling his fur.

“Yep, Happy Valentine’s Day,” Felicity tickled the service dog under his chin. “Now let’s watch _How To Train Your Dragon_. You and Toothless are kind of similar, although he does act more cat-like than you.”

“Toothless?”

“The dragon.”

“The dragon doesn’t have teeth?” Oliver questioned, confused.

“No, he does. He - you know what, let’s just watch, and then you’ll understand,” she waved it away. Snuggling up to his side and sliding under the edge of the weighted blanket, she pressed the play button so that the _Dreamworks_ logo appeared on the screen.

Oliver sighed happily and pulled Felicity closer into his side, burying his face in her hair, which was scented with strawberry, mint, and mango. He used his other free arm to gently cuddle Hunter to him as well, stroking down the dog’s back and snickering when Hunter arched his head up to scrape his tongue over his neck. There was nowhere else he would rather be on Valentine’s Day than with the two people (well, one of them was a dog) he loved the most. Despite the heaviness caused by coming off his antidepressants, his heart felt light.

“You okay?” Felicity whispered.

“Hmm. Yeah. I just love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! i very much hope you enjoyed xx
> 
> twitter: @lexiblackbriar  
> tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13


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